Genetically Engineered Silkworms Spin Like Spiders

http://news.discovery.com/tech/spider-silk-silkworms-genetic-engineering.html

* Silkworms have been genetically engineered to spin spider silk.
* The new hybrid silk is finer and tougher than ordinary silk.
* The development could lead to wound-healing, lighter body armor as well as artificial tissue.

Scientists have created a genetically modified silkworm that spins a new kind of silk: a hybrid of silkworm silk and spider silk.

The new material alone could shake up the textile industry, while future silk hybrids could be used in everything from bulletproof clothing to artificial tendons.

...

Spider dragline silk is significantly stronger than silkworm silk -- so strong that it can best steel wire -- but it is hard to make.

"They just don't produce enough silk," said Fraser, who notes that a golden cloth on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City required more than one million spiders to produce. "One million silkworms can produce considerably more silk than one million spiders."

The new silk is a hybrid of spider silk and silkworm silk. It is stronger and finer than silkworm silk, but not quite as strong as spider silk. "It would definitely be stronger (than a normal silk shirt)," said Lewis. "But it wouldn't flow like silkworm silk does."

...

In this work the Notre Dame and University of Wyoming scientists replaced only one of multiple silk-producing genes in silkworms with spider silk genes. Eventually they want to replace multiple silkworm silk-producing genes with spider silk genes.

In particular, they hope to insert genes from the newly discovered Darwin's Bark Spider (Caerostris darwini), which produced silk twice as strong as any other. That's more than 10 times stronger than Kevlar, a fabric commonly found in bulletproof vests.

Mass produced, stronger-than-steel spider silk will also have a range of biomedical applications, said Fraser and Lewis. Hybrid silk could be speed wound-healing, eliminate or reduce the need for cadaver-derived tendons and ligaments.

Animavore wrote::nono: Sick of these scientists playing God. I still haven't seen them create life from nothing [/creationist]

MattHunX wrote:

Animavore wrote::nono: Sick of these scientists playing God. I still haven't seen them create life from nothing [/creationist]

I'm really curious what their reaction to that would be. A descent into total despair from their part would be most likely and interesting to see, since I reckon not many of them would be able to handle the news, and could throw away religion. They would just kill themselves or curl up in a ball wherever they happen to be and start crying or shouting at the article or tv, red in the face, screaming conspiracy.

xrayzed wrote:

MattHunX wrote:

Animavore wrote::nono: Sick of these scientists playing God. I still haven't seen them create life from nothing [/creationist]

I'm really curious what their reaction to that would be. A descent into total despair from their part would be most likely and interesting to see, since I reckon not many of them would be able to handle the news, and could throw away religion. They would just kill themselves or curl up in a ball wherever they happen to be and start crying or shouting at the article or tv, red in the face, screaming conspiracy.

I don't think so. Religion is remarkably malleable. Look at how many cults have survived end-of-the-world predictions, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The easiest fix: fall back on the reliable "work of Satan" line.

Even if creating life and tweaking the genetic code became standard practice I'm sure religions would eventually find a way to accommodate this. All it takes is a bit of imaginative revisionism. I'm sure somewhere in the Bible is a quote that can be re-puprosed to provide a post facto prediction that this would happen, and moral justification for why believers should embrace it.